As the end of the regular season draws near, here are three things to keep an eye on around baseball:
1. Padres facing elimination
As the Padres shut out the Giants last night at Oracle Park, San Francisco was officially eliminated from postseason contention. Now, with one game remaining between the division rivals, the Giants have a chance to return the favor. The Padres are on their last legs, with an elimination number of one.
The Padres have certainly made things interesting in September, going 16-7 – the best record in baseball – to keep their playoff hopes alive. Unfortunately for San Diego, it’s looking like their efforts were too little too late. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Friars (and the rest of the NL Wild Card race) to see if they can pull off a miraculous comeback.
2. Greinke asks for the ball
As Zack Greinke walked off the field last night at Comerica Park, reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com) noticed he asked for the ball. In doing so, the 20-year MLB veteran signaled he might finally be thinking about retirement. When he left the game, Greinke was in line for the win, having just completed what was arguably his best performance of the year. Presumably, he was thinking he might have just won the final game of his excellent career. (Unfortunately, the Royals went on to lose 6-3.)
The six-time All-Star hasn’t directly expressed any desire to hang up his hat, but Greinke is hardly the type to go on a long and drawn-out retirement tour. Indeed, as he comes to the end of an injury-plagued and difficult season, it wouldn’t be surprising if retirement was on his mind. His 5.18 ERA is the highest it’s been since 2005, and the soon-to-be 40-year-old has spent multiple stints on the IL nursing pain in his elbow and shoulder.
Greinke is in line to make one last start this year, as he closes out the Royals’ season on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Perhaps he or the organization will further discuss his future in the coming days.
3. Seager, McCormick dealing with contusions
Two key players in the AL West race were hit by pitches last night: Corey Seager of the Rangers and Chas McCormick of the Astros. Both Seager and McCormick exited their respective games, but neither appears to be headed for a stint on the injured list.
Seager was hit in the wrist with a 93-mph fastball from Reid Detmers. He remained in the game and took his place at first base, but he was replaced the following inning. After the game, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today) that the star shortstop’s x-rays were negative; thankfully, his wrist is not fractured. The team is calling his injury a right forearm contusion.
As for McCormick, he was hit in the left side with a 99-mph fastball from Andrés Muñoz. He was unable to remain in the game, and manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that he isn’t sure if the young outfielder will be able to play in today’s series finale with the Mariners. The Astros have labeled his injury a left side/lower back contusion.
The Rangers are trying to put away the AL West, while the Astros are fighting off the Mariners for the final postseason berth in the American League. Amid the playoff race, both Seager and McCormick are enjoying the best seasons of their careers.
1-15 is a humiliating record for Greinke. Time to hang it up.
Wow! Didn’t realize it’s gotten that bad, but seems appropriate for the guy that won a Cy NOT aided by his “only” 16 wins (2.13 ERA) in 2009 with KC. (#2-5 that year all had more: 19: King Felix, 19: Verlander, 19: Sabathia, 17: Doc Halladay).
You’re not really suggesting wins has any weight, are you? I hope you’re being facetious, since wins are a team stat more than the pitcher.
Came here for the Win Police, and was of course not disappointed.
We saw more than 1 this visit! Nutrients like 2023 Grienke provide for the fertile conditions in which they best thrive.
I’d rather have the Win Police on patrol than allow people to continue to think W-L record is a good way to evaluate a pitcher.
@twentyfivemanroster – I wouldn’t do such a callous thing. No wins?! First they take our wins, next they take our batting averages, guns & children!
Please provide your children’s BA/OBP/SLG and we’ll determine if they’re worth taking.
The royals won 54 games this year. 104 losses.
15 losses aren’t all greinkes fault. Looking at his game logs. At least half those losses he pitched well
5-6 innings. 2 or less runs.
Zack Greinke has been two vastly different pitchers this year. Looking at his overall 1-15 record alone would miss the bigger picture.
May,August, September (the good)
12 starts, 3 relief, 1-5 record, 3.36 ERA
67.0 IP 62 H 25 ER 8 HR 9 BB 54 K
April,June,July (the bad)
14 starts, 0-10 record, 6.91 ERA
70.1 IP 92 H 54 ER 17 HR 12 BB 41 K
Yes, it is cherry picking stats. But he has had stretches this year when he had everything working and stretches where it all fell apart. Age, and injuries from the past and today, both seem to have played a role in his season’s success.
Evaluating any pitcher using just his W-L record is outdated and an inaccurate assessment of his performance.
I think it took him a good half season to adjust to the clock thinger. He’s old school. To me, it always appears like he has a strategy during each hitter’s plate appearance that includes varying length of time in between pitches. IMO, he settled in to the rule and it’s parameters nicely in the 2nd half
The 18 starts he has made in which the sad sack Royals have scored 3 runs or fewer is even more humiliating.
Would you want to play for a team that bad?
> Would you want to play for
> a team that bad?
Too old now but I would have played for any MLB team when I was younger.
Great answer. I think all the desk jockeys here would have. I know if I had a talent for baseball instead of numbers I would have.
Now I’m hoping one of my grandkids got their grandmother’s DNA and will have the athletic talent.
And yeah Zack Greinke may not want to play for the Royals again with how bad they were this year. But who knows, maybe he found ways to enjoy it..
Hemlock – 8.5 million ways to enjoy it.
Zack has always been said to be the quirkiest of players in recent memory.
Always considered a work horse and at times one of the elites of the era.
Surely he doesn’t need the money but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it.
All in all, just probably wanted to toe the rubber another 25-30 times before riding off into the sunset.
Wouldn’t shock me to see him in ST and won’t shock me if we never hear from him again because he goes underground.
Greinke may have thrown his last eephus.
Next stop Cooperstown.
… Has it ever occurred to any batters to get out of the f***ing way? Getting hit by a pitch without getting hurt is a skill. Anthony Rizzo has it… I would fine Buxton or any other glass-made joker who wouldn’t move. No one else has it. Move
Jose Ureña, is that you?
I have played little league baseball. One season, I got hit about 11 times in 16 games. Every single time, I tried to avoid being hit. It isn’t that simple, especially at 93 mph. I would rather see him GIDP than get hit, even if it helps is OPS.
> I have played little league baseball.
> One season, I got hit about 11 times in
> 16 games. Every single time, I tried to
> avoid being hit. It isn’t that simple,
> especially at 93 mph.
I don’t know what is more troubling—
You are still playing Little League
OR
they throw 93 MPH at you (????)
I used to play when I was in school. What part of that says I still do? “HAVE” doesn’t mean I still do. I have graduated college since then. On the other hand, I was talking about MLB guys like Reid Detmers hitting Seager. See the above part in the article saying he threw it at 93. That was the 93 I was talking about.
Don’t feed the troll.
I don’t think it is as simple as “just get out of the way”. If you bail on every inside curve, you’ll be out of the league in a week.
> I used to play when I was in school.
> What part of that says I still do?
> “HAVE” doesn’t mean I still do.
Ok, thanks for clarifying.
For your information, have played doesn’t mean you don’t still play something. It is what’s called “present perfect tense”. Look it up.
“I have played Ice hockey.”
Tell me, do I still play Ice hockey? Am I going to play it again someday?
I know, but that also doesn’t assure one that I still do. It’s an assumption you reasonable can’t make here. Besides, what is wrong if a non-adult were a user on this site who played recreational baseball?
Your comments on here are from an adult, not a child. Firing writers because of what they write. Quoting PECOTA (PETCO) forecasts. That’s an adult. A certain disdain for the world. Children aren’t aware of feelings like those. “Woe is me it’s tough reading these writers. And ugh, being 6.” ??? Nope.
Adults don’t play Little League. Recreational baseball is fine. WITH adults.
Let’s talk about something else.
How do your Rangers look for the playoffs?
If Scherzer is back, a rotation of Eovaldi, Montgomery, Scherzer, and Dunning looks great. Maybe, Gray can be there until Scherzer is at a starter’s workload. I love the lineup with Carter (if the waiver is approved for him being eligible despite being left off the September 1st roster).
I believe the preferred grammar would have been ” I had played”, which means you don’t currently play.
But that said, “I have played’ doesn’t mean he currently plays.
Getting Josh Jung back has helped a lot. They appear to be a much better team with him. Even Seager has started to hit again.
It looks like the bullpen is an area of weakness but it is for most teams this year. Even the better bullpens are probably a bit overworked so who knows how they might perform in the playoffs.
The AL looks to be theirs if they want to get to the World Series aside from Baltimore.
Tampa Bay >> Baltimore
The run differential shows Baltimore has greatly overperformed, much like Texas in 2015. They had the 2nd best record in baseball and lost out to Toronto. Also, the Orioles have few good starters and rely on their bullpen (Bautista is injured) and have a good but not elite lineup. I’d be more worried about Tampa Bay and Houston than Baltimore.
I watched Chas get hit. There was no way anyone was getting out of the way of that pitch. It was 99 mph with run from a RHP to a right handed hitter.
Greinke doing it right without hosting an album release country concert like Adam Wainwright. He’ll start Sunday giving the fans one last go while Wainwright has already turned his back on cardinal fans by making it clear he won’t.
Greinke may have thrown his last eephus. Next stop Cooperstown.
Protect Corey at all costs! BioFreeze ASAP!
I get nervous when seeing him run, slide, get hit, and make facial expressions of any sort (even a smile may be a grimmace due to injury). Seager needs those PEDs the let A Rod play 16p games a year with a 1.000 OPS.